DSO LOGO Dundee Symphony Orchestra is the performing name of Dundee Orchestral Society. The Society was founded in 1893 by a group of enthusiastic amateur performers, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. The only period in the Orchestra's history when it did not perform or rehearse was during the Second World War. The Orchestra is funded through private and charitable donations, subscriptions from members, and by grants from Making Music and the Scottish Arts Council. We would like to thank all those who provide financial assistance for the orchestra for their continuing support over the years. If you enjoy our concerts, we hope you will consider becoming a Friend of the Orchestra. This may be done by completing the form in the programme and returning it to the Friends Co-ordinator. To keep up to date with events visit the Orchestra website on www.dundee.ac.uk/music/dso.htm The Society is affiliated to The National Federation of Music Societies 7-15 Rosebery Avenue, London ECIR 4SP Tel: 0870 872 3300 Fax: 0870 872 3400 Web site: www.makingmusic.org.uk
Ralph Jamieson (Principal Conductor) Ralph Jamieson was born in Montrose and studied music in Aberdeen where his passion for conducting took hold. He is currently the principal teacher of music at Brechin High School. Formerly he has been the conductor of the Stonehaven Chorus, the Angus Choral Society and the Camerata Angus Chamber Orchestra. This is his fourth concert with the DSO. In his previous appearances he has led the orchestra to highly successful performances of challenging works, including Cesar Frank s D Minor Symphony, William Walton s First Symphony, and most recently Shostakovich s Fifth Symphony. Arthur Balfour (Associate Conductor) Arthur, Principal Teacher of Music at Montrose Academy and former Conductor of Montrose Choral Society, was appointed our Associate Conductor on a permanent basis in 2000. We were delighted to accept his generous offer of commitment to the Orchestra because it offers continuity in rehearsal schedules at times when the Principal Conductor is unavailable. David Russell (Leader 2002/2003) David Russell was born in Glasgow and educated in St Andrews. A biochemist, he is currently reading for a PhD in cell biology at Dundee University. He has long been a keen musician, and was taught the violin by Judith Worthington from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has played extensively with local groups and is currently leader of the Dundee University Orchestra as well as being a member of the Heisenberg Ensemble. David s violin was made in 1781 by the famous Bavarian maker Matthias Hornsteiner.
Linda Ormiston The Dundee Symphony Orchestra and Tayside MS Research Unit are delighted to welcome our compere and soloist for the evening, the accomplished mezzo soprano Linda Ormiston. Born in Motherwell, Linda graduated M.A. from Glasgow University and D.R.S.A.M.D. from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. After further study at the London Opera Centre, she joined Opera for All and then Scottish Opera for whom she performed more than 25 roles. In Britain, she has sung with Opera North, New Sadlers Wells, Opera Northern Ireland and Glyndebourne Festival Opera; abroad, performances have taken her to Italy, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, New York, Vancouver, Monte Carlo, Brussels and Japan. Her numerous TV credits include many televised operas; Mrs. Noye in Noyes Fludde; Top C s and Tiaras; Daytime Live and Highway with Sir Harry Secombe. Engagements over the last few years have included Wozzeck with Frankfurt Opera, The Old Lady in Candide at Canterbury and on BBC Radio 2, her debut with English National Opera in La Belle Vivette and Mother Goose in Stravinsky s The Rake s Progress at the prestigious Salzburg Festival. In 1998, she made her debut with Welsh National Opera in the acclaimed production by David Alden of Monteverdi s The Coronation of Poppea which was broadcast on BBC2 and for which she supplied the voiceovers! Operatic engagements in 2001 included Prokoviev s Betrothal in a Monastery at Opera de Lyon, Britten s Peter Grimes with Frankfurt Opera, The Nose by Shostakovich in Lausanne and concert performances of The Pirates of Penzance with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Scotland.
In 2002, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, she sang in their New Year Viennese concerts and Buttercup in HMS Pinafore at the St. Magnus Festival, Orkney and with the Royal Scottish national Orchestra, Mamma Lucia in a concert performance of Cavalleria Rusticana. In 2003/4, a revival of The Nose will see her return to Lausanne and then to St. Petersburg, Nantes, Angers and Marseille. Away from Opera, she appeared in the BBC TV series Hamish MacBeth and is well known as a broadcaster with BBC Radio Scotland and Radio 3. She gives master classes for singers throughout Scotland and after winning the Wags Dinners in Peterhead and Glasgow in 1999, she is also busy on the afterdinner speaking circuit! In June 1999, Linda received and honorary Doctorate of Music from St. Andrews University and in the 2001 Queen s Birthday Honours List, she was awarded the O.B.E. for services to opera. Dundee Symphony Orchestra Saturday 29 th November 2003, MOZART CONCERTO FOR PIANO K488 Soloist: Christina
Programme Notes William Walton (1902-1983) Prelude & Fugue: The Spitfire William Turner Walton was born on 29 March 1902 in the industrial Lancashire town of Oldham. At the age of 10 he became a chorister at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford University. He subsequently studied at Oxford, though he failed to graduate. During the 1920s Walton spent most of his time composing enthusiastically while staying with his friends Osbert and Edith Sitwell. During this time he wrote many works, including his Piano Quartet, Fantasia Concertante and the overture Portsmouth Point. In 1929 Walton achieved critical acclaim as a composer with his Viola Concerto, premiered by Paul Hindermith. From the mid 1930s, Walton gave much to the expanding media of film, writing scores for Henry V, Hamlet and Richard III. In 1942 he composed the music for the film The First of the Few the story of the development of a Second World War fighter aircraft and its designer RJ Mitchell. From the score, Walton lifted, almost bodily, Prelude and Fugue The Spitfire. Exceptionally, for film music, it needed hardly any modification to turn it into a first-rate concert piece. The climax, when the Prelude & Fugue join, depicts the completed aircraft being wheeled out of the hanger.
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Pavane, Op. 50 This short but enchanting work was first heard as a piece for small four-part chorus and piano. It was later orchestrated and may be performed with or without chorus. The words are of a conventionally pastoral nature and complement the lazy languor of the first melody set low on the solo flute. This section amply shows off the many varied timbres of the woodwind family. There is a more energetic middle section, but the opening material returns to end the piece on a note of nostalgic farewell, which may be felt whether the chorus is used or not - "Adieu... et bon jours!" Making Music Linda Ormiston will introduce and perform the following two songs: Habanera from Carmen, by Georges Bizet & Rondo Finale from La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Die Meistersingers: Prelude Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) was completed on 24 October 1867
and first performed at Munich on 21 June 1868, for Wagner a remarkably quick interval. The Prelude (Vorspiel) gives us a resume of important themes from the opera, but in their symphonic working out they are very far from the 19-century mixed-bag potpourri which caused Wagner to avoid the term Overture. First heard is the majestic 'signature' of the Mastersingers themselves, ending on a trill and giving way to woodwind-led expressions of desire between hero and heroine. In turn these are brushed aside by high tutti violins leading down to the Mastersingers' march. By means of striking modulations, after so much anchoring in one key, the music takes on another mood altogether as the strings (mainly) give a foretaste of the "Prize Song". At the moment when a return to the opening seems imminent we hear staccato shortenings of the previous tunes as though apprentices are mocking them, and the true recapitulation is marked by the triangle, calling attention to the simultaneous combination of the Mastersingers' signature, the "Prize Song" excerpt and the much-quickened march, whose final emergence at the proper speed brings the piece to a close. Ivor Keys Making Music Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) Peter and the Wolf (A Musical Tale for Children) To the subtitle of this work may be added the words "of all ages", for there is nothing at all childish about its music. Peter and the Wolf was written in 1936 for the Moscow Theatre for Children, which Prokofiev had visited several times before agreeing to compose a work for it. He was interested to observe
how intrigued the children were by the musical instruments lying about before a performance. It had been planned to hold a concert in which the instruments would be explained to them, and thus the idea came to Natalie Satz, an administrator of the Theatre, to ask Prokofiev for a work that would be a guide to the instruments. Satz and Nadezhda Sakonskaya, the poet, worked on the scenario, which formed the basis for Prokofiev's music. The first performance, on 5 May 1936, was enthusiastically received. Only a small orchestra is used, with single woodwind, trumpet, trombone, three horns, percussion and strings. Each character is impersonated by an instrument or a combination of them. The flute becomes the fluttering bird, the clarinet impersonates the lithe cat, the oboe the quacking duck, the grumpy grandfather is heard on the bassoon, and the rifle shots of the hunters are represented by the timpani. The menacing wolf is represented by the horns. The work is in the more popular style that Prokofiev often used on his return to his native Russia in 1933 and displays his gifts as a miniaturist. The tale, told by a narrator and aided by the "pictorial" illustrations of the various instruments, recounts how a wolf has been ravaging the countryside, devouring a duck, and how young Peter captures the wolf and drags it off to the zoo. Inevitably, since Prokofiev was composing during the Stalinist regime, various underlying political themes have been spotted in the work, but such issues are not relevant today to the innocent enjoyment of this symphonic fairy tale. Ben Brickman Making Music Interval
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Hungarian Dances, no. 5 Allegro & no. 6 Vivace. Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg North Germany, and his ambition for many years was to return to his native city to occupy some substantial position in the musical establishment. His childhood had been spent in poverty, and it was natural that he should wish to be seen to have succeeded in the eyes of his fellow citizens. This particular triumph eluded him, and he was finally to settle in Vienna, where he became a dominant figure in the musical life of the imperial capital. Brahms fascination for gypsy music was shown as early as 1853, the year of his meeting with Robert Schumann, when he wrote a set of variations on a Hungarian theme. His later music often contained elements of the Hungarian gypsy. The most popular of his works in the Hungarian style, however, were the Hungarian Dances, composed originally for piano duet, and appearing in four sets, the first two issued in 1869 and the second pair in 1880. The Hungarian dances were to win immediate popularity and were quickly arranged for orchestra. Tonight the orchestra will perform the 5 th and 6 th dances. These have considerable variety and marked rhythmic interest. With their surging melodies and Eastern European flavour, they certainly illustrate Brahms love of the gypsy style.
Linda Ormiston will introduce and perform the following two songs: Can t Help Lovin Dat Man from Show Boat by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein & By Strauss by George Gershwin Aaron Copland (1900-1990) Dance Episodes from Rodeo Copland started as a member of the avant-garde; he had studied in Paris in the 1920s and come under the spell of Leg Six and Stravinsky. Then came the 1930s, the Depression and in the USA Roosevelt s WPA - the Works Projects Administration -through which a number of American artists in all the media were encouraged, by government grant, to produce art for the people. This enterprise was a sort of minor image of Soviet artists and composers doing Comrade Zhdanov s will in Russia - all those heroic tractor drivers. As the American artists had a far greater freedom than their Soviet counterparts, their paintings and music were better than most of that which came out of Russia, though America has never had a composer quite of the stature of Shostakovich. Following this trend, in the 1930s Copland too was moved to try and create American music for an American public and not just the New York intelligentsia. He made a fruitful collaboration with the choreographer, Agnes de Mille, producing three ballet scores for her company: Appalachian Spring, the best known, and
two with Wild West scenarios, Billy the Kid (1938) and Rodeo (1942). Tonight the orchestra will play 3 dance episodes from Rodeo. They are: Buckaroo Holiday Saturday Night Waltz Hoe-Down David Elliott Making Music DSO Welcomes New Members If you play an instrument and are interested in joining DSO, please phone
Acknowledgements The Dundee Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the support of the following: For the financial support given to the Society: The St Katharine s Fund The Lang Foundation The RJ Larg Family Trust The Leng Charitable Trust The Low & Bonar Charitable Trust Alexander Moncur s Trust William S. Phillip s Fund DC Thomson Charitable Trust Friends of the DSO For the concessionary terms given to members of the Orchestra Virgin Megastore, Unit G, The Wellgate Dundee Music in Print Limited, 29 Castle Street, Dundee Vintage Strings, 69 Perth Road, Dundee The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Friends of LOGO We invite you to become a Friend of the Orchestra in support of our work. With the assurance of this patronage, the Committee is able to plan future seasons' activities with confidence. The following concessions are available to Friends: on production of a membership card, entitlement to two tickets for the price of one for any concert given by the Orchestra on production of a membership card, priority where advance booking is necessary annual newsletter giving details of the Orchestra's activities, and advance information about concerts open invitation to meet the Orchestra at social functions when held. If you would like to become a Friend, please complete the slip and return it to the Friends Co-ordinator, Persephone Beer, 25 Orchard Brae, Kirriemuir, DD8 4JY. Please enrol me as a Friend of Dundee Symphony Orchestra. *I enclose 10.00 for one year's membership *I enclose 30.00 for four years' membership *[please delete as appropriate] Name:... Address:...... Friends of LOGO 2003 Miss S Aitken Mr J I Allan Mrs R Alston Dr D Bell Mr A Belford Mrs M Brough Mrs D Brown Dr M G Burdon Prof J K Core Dr P Crawford Mr B Finnie Mrs A M Gordon Dr W M Haining Mrs M Ingram Ms Van M Horenbeeck Mrs P Jackson Mrs M P Jackson Mr A G Jarrett Mr A J Jawad Mrs S Leighton Dr N Loveless Prof B Makin Mr J B S Mann (Jnr) Mrs N McCracken Prof J & Mrs V R McEwen Mrs I Morrison Mr G Mottashaw Mrs I Munro Mrs D S Paton Mrs M Peebles Miss M C Robertson Mr E C Robinson Mrs Moira Scott Dr A Spackman Mr P Svenson Mrs L Thomas Mr L Tullo Mr K C Urquhart Prof A E Vardy Sheriff K A Veal Mr M J Webster
INSERT DSO LOGO Violin I David Russell Shelly Findlater John Cheyne Persephone Beer Barbro Haining Muriel Robinson Muriel Dyer Murray Mackinnon Violin II Sally Carus Rona Wishart Anne Chalmers Julie Mulderry Fiona Bolik Caroline Anderson Marjory Watson Viola Elspeth O'Riordan Morwyn Porter Mairi McCabe David Gill Stewart McMurdo Sean Thomas Cello Donald Gordon Anna Woodward Audrey Brown Maureen Simpson Julia MacPherson Double Bass James Knox Philip Smith Flute Clare Forgan Beth Hyman Piccolo Nicola Maynes Oboe Anne Webster Nicky Hendry Clarinet John Brush Gillian Smith Bass Clarinet Robert Thomson Bassoon Neil Anderson Ishbel Duncan Horn Lindsay Millar Torfi Gunnerson Gwen Teppett Eleanor Oakes John Sharp Trumpet Sarah Oetegenn John Tonner Stefan Curtis Lena Kelly Trombone Paul Findlay Iain Maxwell Adam Malecki Tuba Philip McGregor Timpani Andrew Lindsay Percussion Iain Sandilands Isobel Luke Piano Dorothy McCabe